A disaster is a natural or man-made (or technological) hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. A disaster can be ostensively defined as any tragic event stemming from events such as earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, orexplosions. It is a phenomenon that can cause damage to life and property and destroy the economic, social and cultural life of people. In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriatelymanaged risk. These risks are the product of a combination of both hazard/s and vulnerability. Hazards that strike in areas with low vulnerability will never become disasters, as is the case in uninhabited regions.[1] Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95 percent of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in industrialized countries.[2][3] Contents [hide] * 1 Etymology * 2 Classifications * 2.1 Natural disaster * 2.2 Man-made disasters * 3 See also * 4 References * 5 Further reading * 6 External links| -------------------------------------------------

[edit]EtymologyThe word disaster is derived from Middle French désastre and that from Old Italian disastro, which in turn comes from the Greekpejorative prefix δυσ-, (dus-) "bad"[4] + ἀστήρ (aster), "star".[5] The root of the word disaster ("bad star" in Greek) comes from anastrological theme in which the ancients used to refer to the destruction or deconstruction of a star as a disaster. -------------------------------------------------

[edit]ClassificationsResearchers have been studying disasters for more than a century, and for more than forty years disaster research. The studies reflect a common opinion when they argue that all disasters can be...

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...﻿NaturalHazards and NaturalDisasters
A naturalhazard is a threat of a naturally occurring event will have a negative effect on humans. This negative effect is what we call a naturaldisaster. In other words when the hazardous threat actually happens and harms humans, we call the event a naturaldisaster.
NaturalHazards (and the resulting disasters) are the result of naturally occurring processes that have operated throughout Earth's history.
Effects of Hazards
Hazardous process of all types can have primary, secondary, and tertiary effects.
Primary Effects occur as a result of the process itself. For example water damage during a flood or collapse of buildings during an earthquake, landslide, or hurricane.
Secondary Effects occur only because a primary effect has caused them. For example, fires ignited as a result of earthquakes, disruption of electrical power and water service as a result of an earthquake, flood, or hurricane, or flooding caused by a landslide into a lake or river.
Tertiary Effects are long-term effects that are set off as a result of a primary event. These include things like loss of habitat caused by a flood, permanent changes in the position of river channel caused by flood, crop failure caused by a volcanic eruption etc.
Vulnerability to...

...NATURALHAZARDS AND DISASTERS IN THE CARIBBEAN Definitions
A hazard can be defined as, “A potentially damaging physical event, phenomenon or human activity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation”. Hazards can include latent conditions that may represent future threats and can have different origins: natural (geological, hydrometeorological and biological); or induced by human processes (environmental degradation and technological hazards). Hazards can be single, sequential or combined in their origin and effects. Each hazard is characterized by its location, intensity, frequency and probability. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (2004, 16). A disaster can be defined as, “A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources”. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, (2004, 17). A naturalhazard can be defined as, “…a potentially dangerous environmental event which impacts on a human population. Moreover naturalhazards emerges from environmental activities which are...

...There is a difference between natural hazardsand naturaldisasters. A hazard is an event orobject that is a potential source of harm to a community.
A disaster occurs as the result of ahazardous event that dramatically affects a community.
There are six broad types of hazards:1. Atmospheric Ð for example, cyclones, hailstorms,blizzards or bushfires2. Hydrological Ð for example, flooding, waveaction or glaciers3. Geological Ð for example, earthquakes orvolcanoes4. Biological Ð for example, disease epidemicsand plagues5.Technological Ð for example, accidents, explosionsor hazardous materials6.Human Ð for example, war, crowd stampedeand terrorism.
The first four groupings are generally referredto as naturalhazards and the last two as humanhazards. It should be noted that some naturalhazards are influenced by the actions andlocations of people. For example, the severity ofbushfires depends not only on the amount of fuelavailable or the strength and humidity of thewind. Humans influence bushfires through carelessnessin the use of ®re, inadequate preparationof their property in the event of a bushfire andpoor disaster planning.
Risk analysis is concerned with the chance of ahazardous event occurring and whether or not itcould result in a disaster. The map oppositeshows those areas of Australia that are vulnerableto the threat of...

...Hazard Assessment for Memphis, Tennessee Environmental Geology
Hazard Assessment for Memphis, Tennessee A naturaldisaster is defined as any event or force of nature that has catastrophic consequences (“naturaldisaster”). The only reason that these events are considered to have catastrophic consequences is because people are negatively affected by these natural events. If people were not present during these events, they would not be considered catastrophic. The more people affected means the event would be considered more catastrophic. Tennessee is the 17th most populated state, with approximately 6.4 million residents (Infoplease.com). Within the state, Shelby county covers the most area, (755 square miles), and is also the most populated county, with approximately 927,644 people residing there (Infoplease.com). Shelby county includes the city of Memphis. Memphis is the most populated city within Tennessee with at least 645,000 residents (Infoplease.com). I have attached several maps in order to see different parts of the land. Map I shows where the county lines are located within Tennessee. You can also see where Memphis is located within the county. Map II shows the elevation levels of the state. As you can see in that map, Memphis is located within the lowest elevation levels of the state. Map III shows the rivers that run throughout the state. The main river that...

...A naturaldisaster is the effect of a naturalhazard (e.g., flood, tornado, hurricane, volcanic eruption, earthquake, heatwave, or landslide). It leads to financial, environmental or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the vulnerability of the affected population to resist the hazard, also called their resilience. if these disasters continues it would be a great danger for the earth.[1] This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability."[2] Thus a naturalhazard will not result in a naturaldisaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas.[3] The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement.[4] A concrete example of the division between a naturalhazard and a naturaldisaster is that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a disaster, whereas earthquakes are a hazard. This article gives an introduction to notable naturaldisasters, refer to the list of naturaldisasters for a comprehensive listing.
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy...

...&amp;Hailstorms ……………………………………………........6
Tornadoes &amp; Fires …………………………………………….………..7
Gamma ray burst ……………………………………….………………7
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………7
References …………………………………………………………………………..…………….8
Naturaldisasters
introduction
A naturaldisaster is the effect of a naturalhazard (e.g., flood, tornado, hurricane, volcanic eruption, earthquake, heatwave, or landslide). It leads to financial, environmental or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the vulnerability of the affected population to resist the hazard, also called their resilience. This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability." A naturalhazard will hence never result in a naturaldisaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement. A concrete example of the division between a naturalhazard and a naturaldisaster is that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a disaster, whereas earthquakes are a hazard. This article gives an introduction to notable...

...What are NaturalDisasters?
The World is always changing.
Naturaldisasters are changes which are so great they may cause damage to the shape of the land or to the lives of people and other living things.Great changes happen deep inside the Earth and on its surface. The changes on the outer part of the Earth happen because of different kinds of weather.
What are NaturalDisasters?
• Volcanic eruption
• Earthquake
• Cyclone or Hurricane
• Avalanche
• Flood
• Drought
• Forest fire or Bushfire
Volcanoes
A volcanic eruption is the spurting out of gases and hot lava from an opening in the Earth’s crust.
Pressure from deep inside the Earth forces ash, gas and molten rock to the surface.
Earthquake
An earthquake is a violent shaking of the ground. Sometimes it is so strong that the ground splits apart.
When parts of the earth, called plates, move against each other giant shock waves move upwards towards the surface causing the earthquake.
Effects of Earthquakes
Earthquakes produce various damaging effects to the areas they act upon. This includes damage to buildings and in worst cases the loss of human life. The effects of the rumbling produced by earthquakes usually leads to the destruction of structures such as buildings, bridges, and dams. They can also trigger landslides.Besides producing floods and destroying...

...﻿Naturaldisasters such as flood, fire, tornado, earthquake, tsunamis are becoming more and more frequent on our planet. In short description a naturaldisaster is a result of a naturalhazard, which has a negative effect on human beings. These geologic processes can lead to serious consequences such as loss of life, property damage, economic problems. Certain areas are more exposed to naturaldisasters. For example, most of New Zealand’s coastline is exposed to tsunami hazard, while the Far East region is exposed to floods. Being aware of possible dangers, people should be prepared to protect themselves, their families and communities. Two important preparation steps are the developing of emergency plan and assembling a supply kit. However, all the known disasters have unique nature and should be approached separately. Some of the common naturalhazards are as follows: earthquake, flood, drought, heat wave, hurricane, volcanic eruption, hailstorm, tornado, tsunami, landslide, wildfire, blizzard. I’d like to tell you a bit more about floods, hurricane and earthquakes. A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land. In severe cases it can result in human and animal deaths. Very often the crops are destroyed, which brings famine. A hurricane is a severe tropical cyclone or storm that often occurs in...